Mistakes, milestones and Monos’

Fifteen years, four kids and a lot of footy later, Luke Ryan is still going strong at Monadelphous and still finding ways to grow.

He first joined the business back in 2005 as a fresh graduate in Applecross, before taking some time off to travel. In 2010, he returned to Monadelphous and hasn’t looked back since.

Now leading the Goldfields team as Branch Manager, Luke is focused on developing his leadership skills and making life easier for his teams.

“I’ve only recently taken on the Branch Manager role out in the Goldfields, so I’m happy gaining experience and developing my leadership skills for the time being,” Luke said.

“I’ve been around Monadelphous long enough to see those who put in the hard yards progress when opportunities arise. These are never set in concrete, and with the nature of our work, those opportunities can pop up when you least expect them.

“I just want to keep improving on myself, make life easier for my teams so everyone can come to work, do their job and go home safely at the end of the day.”

Whether it’s technical problems or people ones, Luke takes a structured approach to solving issues.

“I’ve always overcome problems by trying to see what the real issue is, break the problem into smaller parts, prioritise them and work through it systematically,” he said.

“You can’t just put your head in the sand and hope the problem goes away. You might as well meet the challenge head-on and do something, no matter what; it’s better than doing nothing. There is not always one right way to solve something.”

Looking back on his early days, Luke said he’s learned the most from the tough moments.

“I’m sure there are heaps of things I wish I knew! Unfortunately, without making mistakes yourself, you will never truly learn and grow and gain experience,” he said.

“I guess knowing this and having this instilled early would maybe make going through those phases easier to deal with. We all make mistakes; it’s how we respond to and learn from them that truly matters. Don’t dwell on them, fix them, learn and move on.”

It’s the same kind of advice he now shares with young engineers starting out.

“Although you have a degree, everyone understands you don’t know everything when you leave university,” he said.

“Learn as much as you can by asking questions. If you show an interest in what is going on around you and you admit to people you’ve never seen this before or don’t know how it works, people will share their knowledge with you. Monos’ team members have so much experience and knowledge that they are willing to share if you just ask.

“Get out of your comfort zone early. You can’t buy experience.”

Outside of work, Luke’s just as busy.

“Most of my weekends are filled with running after kids’ sporting activities with four kids playing soccer most of Saturday and footy for half of Sunday, of which I’m a coach of one of the teams,” he said.

“I’m normally a sporty person myself, but I’ve had to give up playing squash in the last 12 months, which was my social outlet after finishing playing football a few years ago. I had to have surgery on my back to fix some issues there from years of sport.”

Now in recovery, Luke’s trying something completely new.

“I’ve just been recovering from that, trying to work on physio exercises, rebuilding strength in my core. I’ve had to start doing weights, which is interesting as I have never set foot in a gym before!” he said.

“I’m starting to enjoy seeing some progress and results here, so maybe this could be something I see myself working towards getting into next to get my exercise fix.”